B.C. man sentenced to 4 years for harassing ex-wife through revenge website

Patrick Fox of Burnaby, B.C., is shown in this undated handout image. (Ho/The Canadian Press)

A B.C. man convicted of criminally harassing his ex-wife through a revenge website has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison.

After time served is taken into account, Patrick Fox will spend nearly two years in prison and be on probation for three years after his release.

Fox was found guilty by a jury in June of criminally harassing his ex-wife Desiree Capuano through threatening emails and a website that maligns her as a white supremacist, drug addict and child abuser.

He was also found guilty of possessing firearms in a place he was not authorized to do so.

Fox was sentenced to three years for criminal harassment and 10 months for the firearms offence, to be served consecutively. He has also been banned from owning firearms for life.

Justice Heather Holmes of the B.C. Supreme Court said Fox made it his mission to destroy Capuano’s life and it is a testament to her inner strength that he did not achieve his stated goal to make her kill herself.

“Mr. Fox did everything he could to humiliate and torment Ms. Capuano to the point where she feared reasonably for her and her family’s safety.”

The judge also ordered Fox to have no contact with Capuano or her partner, as well as to remove the website upon his release from custody and to not use the internet except for employment or for personal emails.

Fox blamed Capuano for having him deported from the United States without their son. But he refused to acknowledge he was staying in the country illegally or that his ex-wife allowed the boy to visit him in B.C. during summers.

An RCMP officer testified that Fox was told by police that his ex-wife feared he would secretly cross the border and attack her.

Fox was charged after Capuano complained to police in Arizona that she feared for her life.

She testified from behind a screen so she wouldn’t have to face Fox, telling jurors she believed her ex-husband was bent on destroying her reputation.

The court heard she was laid off from her job and struggled to find work due to the website.

Crown counsel Mark Myhre told Fox’s sentencing hearing that he’s troubled by Fox’s lack of insight into how his own actions have led to his circumstances.